Call me silly

[frayne]

After two and a half years of being retired, moving to a warmer climate, playing golf, riding my motorcycle across country and doing anything I damn well please I have become brain bored. Took some classes at the local community college and also enrolled in a tax course with a well known national tax preparation company. Enjoyed the tax course immensely, took and passed the exam and was offered employment to help out during the tax season. Call me silly but I think I am going to enjoy my second (part time) career. Any others ever take this route ?

 

[Meadbh]

Not silly at all. I'm not RE yet, but I can definitely see myself doing something like this. The key is that you (FI) decide whether you want to do it, what you want to do, when, and how much.

 

[dex]

Dam! I was hoping to call you silly. If you're doing what you want, when you want, where you want you are not silly.
RE is not a destination; it is a journey.

 

[REWahoo]

Took some classes at the local community college and also enrolled in a tax course with a well known national tax preparation company. Enjoyed the tax course immensely, took and passed the exam and was offered employment to help out during the tax season. Call me silly but I think I am going to enjoy my second (part time) career.

OK, you're silly. (Just honoring your request.)

Any others ever take this route ?

Yes, I followed a very similar route last year as a volunteer tax preparer for low income taxpayers. After going through training and receiving my certification from the IRS, I also thought I would enjoy it. Not so. I discovered that going back to having to be somewhere at a certain time and answering to someone else's silly rules and regulations, even as a volunteer, was still a royal PITA. I found other ways to exercise my brain without compromising my independence and trying my 'incredible' patience.

Here's hoping you will have a more positive experience.

 

[samclem]

Not silly at all. It is a lot different to be working because you like it secure n the knowledge that you can quit whenever you want than to be shackled to a desk for an indefinite period of indentured servitude in order to pay off your bills. Enjoy it and have fun!

The silly part: Doing taxes. OMG! The only thing worse than doing my own taxes would be doing taxes for other people. Couldn't you find a relaxing job having bamboo shards jammed under your fingernails?

 

[haha]

After two and a half years of being retired, moving to a warmer climate, playing golf, riding my motorcycle across country and doing anything I damn well please I have become brain bored. Took some classes at the local community college and also enrolled in a tax course with a well known national tax preparation company. Enjoyed the tax course immensely, took and passed the exam and was offered employment to help out during the tax season. Call me silly but I think I am going to enjoy my second (part time) career. Any others ever take this route ?

I did it for several years, before I actually retired and while I was still looking for a better career rather than no career at all. I took some advanced courses in corporate and partnership taxation, and also taught the beginning course that you are now finishing for 2 years.

I enjoyed it overall. One spring there was a lot of stock market turmoil, and I felt I would make more money trading than doing taxes, so I quit. Still, it was an interesting gig, and most of the people who take it are clever and pleasant. At least when I did it, the pay was not very good for the level of concentration and knowledge required. I attributed this to bright retirees and housewives who had lower pay expectations than full time careerists.

Ha

 

[Moemg]

I don't think you are silly .You are trying something to see if you like it .Good for you !

 

[Sandy]

w*rk is only a four letter word when you don't have a choice.

 

[donheff]

If it is fun it isn't work. Besides, if you take the job you will make Bonzo happy that you are contributing to society again.

 

[Martha]

A few people have posted here about trying out working for tax prep companies such as H & R Block during tax season. IIRC, the pay was not very good and the rewards were based on speed and number of clients, not difficulty of the task.

Oh, and don't forget the encouragement to sell tax refund loans.

 

[Nords]

Call me silly but I think I am going to enjoy my second (part time) career. Any others ever take this route ?

Does it involve office attire, commuting, showing up before starting time and not being able to leave before quitting time, and perhaps a meeting or two? Can you take a morning or afternoon off if the surf is up?

It's not the actual work I object to, it's the overhead.

BTW, when do you plan to do your own tax return?

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

not silly. i still find myself sometimes wondering what i'd like to do for a living. and if i ever figure it out i'm going to start a new career.

 

[dex]

I'm thinking if I go back to a job is will be teaching grammer school children. I can not wait to do some of the things the Catholic nuns did to me - steel rulers over the knuckles, slaps in the face, emotional abuse, verbal abuse and, books, chalk,blackboard erasors thrown at me. Of course I will not be teaching spelling.

 

[REWahoo]

Of course I will not be teaching spelling.

I admire a man who knows his limitations.

 

[Moemg]

If I could find a job that doesn't require me to be anywhere before 9:30 and lets me take off whenever I want to and occasionally work in my pj's and no meetings I might go for it .Wait ,that's selling on ebay and I already do it .

 

[Buckeye]

About 10 years ago, I worked part-time (I had a full-time job and didn't need the money) for H&R Block for a couple of tax seasons just to have something to do in the winter. The company sucks and that's being generous. I enjoyed doing people's taxes but sometimes I was embarassed to tell them how much it cost. A simple state and federal return could run over $100 and that was 10 years ago.

I did my best to talk people out of the quick refunds (very, very expensive) but they insisted on buying them. Typically, it was folks getting EIC so they were spending the government's money to get more of the government's money quicker.

It could be a very frustrating experience for you but the group I worked for was pretty tight because we felt like we were under siege by the customers and the company. It will make you wonder how such poorly run companies can actually stay in business year after year.

 

[jambo101]

After two and a half years of being retired, moving to a warmer climate, playing golf, riding my motorcycle across country and doing anything I damn well please I have become brain bored.

Sounds like my dream retirement scenario but as i've only been retired for two days its hard to think of how my long range attitudes might change.I think that before re-entering the 9 to 5 again i would try a new passion like Camping or boating.

 

[Rambler]

Camping and boating sound like very good complements to your other outdoor activities, but if you are looking for some kind of fulfillment, why not try volunteering? If the outdoors is your sort of thing, maybe helping with Boy Scouts, or volunteering with the national parks system woul help. Sometime down the road, I would like to try being a campground attendant...don't know whether that is volunteer or paid, but if it lets me camp or RVcamp for 3 months, sounds good to me...

R

 

[jambo101]

Become a Camp Host

 

[bssc]

My mother does taxes now that she has retired. She also volunteers. Makes perfect sense.

 

[citrine]

Makes perfect sense to me too....I plan on supplementing my income by teaching yoga, selling my paintings, being a part time mother's helper, and whatever else catches my fancy.

 

[Bikerdude]

I worked for Liberty Tax for 3 seasons. First season was interesting . 2nd season they put me in a new office alone. Kinda fun. 3rd season alone in another new office. Not fun . I did not return for a 4th. Average is 2 years for burnout.

 

[RE2Boys]

I did the same thing after retiring, wanted something to do during the dog days of winter when camping, hiking, working around the house gets unpleasant.

I took the HR Block tax course and worked there for five seasons. At first it was a lot of fun meeting different folks. The pricing was generally too high for the majority of returns and the pressure to sell inappropriate stuff such as refund anticipation loans and IRAs was constant. Finally had enough and floated a resume to some local CPA and bookkeeping offices. The CPA firm jumped on it......seasonal help during their busiest season....already trained.....no benefits......no "career" issues. Offered 40% more than HR Block. They even allow me to set my own hours. Worked out great.

RE2Boys

 

[joesxm3]

I'm thinking if I go back to a job is will be teaching grammer school children. I can not wait to do some of the things the Catholic nuns did to me - steel rulers over the knuckles, slaps in the face, emotional abuse, verbal abuse and, books, chalk,blackboard erasors thrown at me. Of course I will not be teaching spelling.

Ever get whipped with rosary beads?

One friend of mine was locked in the closet by his nun. His mother finally got him out at 7pm. The nun forgot about him and went home. He is now proudly gay, but I do not know if being let out of the closet had anything to do with that

 

[Orchidflower]

Smart. Not silly. Keeps the brain working. Do it. I, too, though of doing the exact same thing just to learn how to do taxes essentially. Smart, smart, smart...so do it I say.